Protests in Kiev’s central Independence Square started on Nov. 21, after the Ukrainian government said it would not sign a trade association agreement with the EU at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius. Opposition groups wanting closer ties with Europe have demanded that the government of President Viktor Yanukovych resign, and that early elections be held.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the United States' Secretary of State John Kerry stressed the need to comply with the February 12 Minsk accords during their talks in Geneva, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday

The Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic has announced the completion of the withdrawal of the heavy armaments of the militia from the separation line with the Ukrainian army

The sending by some countries of military instructors to Ukraine will not promote the implementation of the Minsk agreements and will aggravate the situation, Russian envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case based on the illegal detention in Ukraine of Russian television journalists Andrei Grigoryev (of NTV) and Yelena Makarova (of Channel One), Vladimir Markin, an official with the Investigative, told Interfax

Militia forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic withdrew 16 unmarked military trucks towing howitzers from the village of Makiyivka, located 12 kilometers east of Donetsk, the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a report, published on Wednesday

The advance made by the Ukrainian side for deliveries of Russian natural gas will be sufficient for three to four days after which Gazprom, in compliance with the contract will suspend deliveries which can pose a threat to the transit of Russian gas to Europe, President Vladimir Putin has said